eSports: The New Intercollegiate
“Athlete”
Dr. Seth Jenny, Winthrop University
Dr. R. Douglas Manning, University of Southern Mississippi
Dr. Peggy Keiper, Northwood University
Association Supporting Computer Users in Education
(ASCUE) National Conference
June 13, 2016
Myrtle Beach, SC
Is this a Collegiate Athlete?
Is this a Collegiate Athlete?
Is this a Collegiate Athlete?
Is this a Collegiate Athletic Facility?
Is this a Collegiate Athletic Facility?
Is this a Collegiate Athletic Facility?
Is this a Collegiate Sport Roster?
http://upikebears.com/
Look at the last Co-Ed Sport listed on
the U of Pikeville Athletics Website
http://upikebears.com/index.aspx
2014…
“eSports” – Sport & Athletes
• Today eSports is now becoming more accepted as a “sport” and…
• Gamers being identified as “athletes” within society today
• Welcome to the world of competitive video gaming, also known as eSports!
RMU eSports Team Members
“eSports” Synonyms
• Synonyms:
•e-Sports
•Electronic Sports
•Cybersports
•Gaming
•Competitive Computer
Gaming
•Virtual Sports
“eSports” Definition
• “Any organized multi-player video game
competition, where individuals and teams assemble
in stadia and arenas to compete in sanctioned, realtime, broadly streamed, financially incentivized, and
widely-attended tournament events.” (Xue, Pu, Hawzen, & Newman,
2016)
• Organized Video Game Competitions (Jenny, Manning, Keiper, Olrich, 2016)
What is LoL?
• LOL - what it is
• League of Legends (i.e., LoL)
• MOBA – Multiplayer Online Battle Arena
• Fast-paced, competitive online game that blends speed &
intensity
• Two teams, each with a unique design and playstyle,
battle head-to-head across multiple battlefields and
game modes
(Tassi, 2014a).
eSport Teams (LoL)
• Consists of six team members
• Five players and one substitute/coach
• Each player has a role/job, these jobs include:
– Toplane
– Midlane
– Support
– Attack Damage (AD) Carry
– Jungle
Map of League of Legends
Win by destroying enemy turrets and their Nexus
eSports Video
https://www.youtube.com/user/LoLChampSeries
eSports In College
•FIVE
eSports
ininstitutions
College currently offer eSports scholarships:
higher ed.
• 3 colleges + scholarships
1) Robert Morris University (RMU) in Chicago
• In 2014, first college/university to began offering athletic
scholarships to gamers
• RMU allocated $500,000 for their intercollegiate gaming team
(Wingfield, 2014c)
eSports In College
• eSports in College
2) University of Pikeville (KY) - 2014
3 colleges
+ scholarships
• •Offers
full-ride scholarships
- available ($23,000/year tuition;
$14,000 room and board)
• Called “student-athlete”
• Maintain minimum GPA
• Commit to Practice, video and study sessions (Tassi, 2015)
http://www.upike.edu/News/Campus/UPIKE-enters-the-arena-with-new-ESPORTs-program
eSports In College
• eSports in College
3) Maryville University (St. Louis, MO)
• 3 colleges + scholarships
•
Club team, but university offers scholarships
•
University Participation Awards: eSport
participants are eligible for a $2,000
participation award.
https://www.maryville.edu/studentlife/esports-clubs/
eSports In College
• eSports in College
4) Southwestern College (Winfield, KS)
• 3 colleges + scholarships
•
$5,000 grant each year, equaling $20,000 for
four years to participate in eSports
http://www.sckans.edu/other/general/news/view/1612/?video-gamers-can-receive-esports-grants-at-southwestern-college
eSports In College
• eSports in College
5) Columbia College (Columbia, MO)
•
3
colleges
+
scholarships
• Fall 2016
http://www.columbiacougars.com/news/2015/10/30/GEN_1030152307.aspx
History of eSports
• Over 70 million people watch eSports (internet or TV) globally (Wingfield, 2014a)
• Most popular eSport video game: League of Legends (LoL)
• Fantasy Combat Strategy
• In 2013, LoL had over 70 million registered players, including 32 million
monthly active players (Snider, 2013)
Early History of eSports (4 slides)
Adlfsadfnf (Snider, 2013)
(Snider, 2013)
What’s largely driving the esports boom is
better videostreaming technology and faster
internet connections, allowing fans to follow
tournaments and their [favorite] players
online…Watching your [favorite] player talk
you through their game is a unique attraction
of esports…If you had Usain Bolt giving an
analysis of his own race, people would love
that. (Heaven, 2014b, para. 10-11)
LoL World Champs 2014
Sangam Stadium, is located in Seongsan-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea (Seoul World Cup Stadium)
Other Popular eSports Games
•
•
•
•
•
Hearthstone
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
DotA2
LoL
Madden NFL
(Moth, 2014)
eSports in the Media
2010 – estimated 8.4 million viewers watching eSports (“INFOGRAPHIC: The 50 Million-strong market”, 2013)
2014 – over 71 million viewers watching eSports and competitive gaming (Llamas & Barberie, 2014)
2014, ESPN covered The International DotA 2 Championships held in Seattle, Washington’s,
sold-out Key Arena (Valve, 2014).
https://www.twitch.tv/
eSports in the Media
• Turner Broadcasting (TBS)
• eSports League
• Two 10-week seasons annually
• Counter Strike: Global Offense
http://www.dailydot.com/esports/turner-brodcasting-counter-strike/
eSports in the Media
•ESPN
•X-Games
•Halo
•Call of Duty
http://espn.go.com/esports/story/_/id/14665732/x-games-halo-world-championship-aspen-invitational-tour-preview
http://charlieintel.com/2015/03/25/mlg-announces-call-of-duty-esports-is-returning-to-xgames-austin/
http://espn.go.com/esports/story/_/id/14665732/x-games-halo-world-championship-aspen-invitational-tour-preview
http://charlieintel.com/2015/03/25/mlg-announces-call-of-duty-esports-is-returning-to-xgames-austin/
Can eSports be considered “Sport”?
Can eSport Be Considered a Sport?
In order for eSport to be considered a sport it must fulfill the
following:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
Play
Organized
Competition
Skill
Physicality
Broad Following
Institutionalization
(Jenny, Manning, Keiper, Olrich, 2016)
eSport-Play
•• Play
Play forms the foundation for all sports (Guttmann, 1978)
•
• eSport participants voluntarily play video games
for enjoyment
eSport – Organized
• Competition
• Sports
are all goal-directed activities adhering to rules (Suits, 2007)
• eSports Tournaments:
• Rules and Regulations specify tournament and match regulations
• Teams of Four to Five Players
• Multiple Rounds
• Certain Time Period (e.g., 1 hour and 45 minutes)
• Play a Selected Video Game (e.g., League of Legends)
• Game and Server Settings
• Players are required to adhere to these specific guidelines
http://gfx.esl.eu/media/eu/csgo/eslone/katowice2015/ESLOne_CSGO_Rulebook.pdf
eSport- Competition
• Sports must include competition resulting in a winner (or
winners) and loser (or losers) (Guttmann, 1978)
• Inherent within the concept of competition is the presence of an
opponent, to which one will win, lose, or draw (Drewe, 2003)
• eSports eventually leads to a winner (or winners)
• eSports allows GLOBAL competition
eSports- Skill
• Sports must involve skillful play where chance or luck is not the sole
reason for winning (Suits, 2007)
•
eSports:
• Skillful coordination - manipulate controller buttons to effectively manage on-screen avatar
•
Skillful play in eSports should not be limited to technical dexterity utilized with a controller, but also
“Sporting Intelligence” (Hemphill , 2005)
•
“Cyber-intelligent Action” - eSport players exhibit game sense through skillfully linking avatar
movement actions to game-posed challenges.
•
Wagner (2006) noted, “teams that train for eSports disciplines will increase their competency in
making complex strategic decisions at a high speed” (p. 4).
eSport- Physicality
• Skill involved in sports must include Physical skill
(Suits, 2007)
• Due to nature of sport, an essential characteristic is physical prowess,
which distinguishes it from games (Hemphill, 2005)
• For a game to be elevated to the level of “sport”, the physical
movement by the participant must be integral to the successful
completion of the task (e.g., chess vs. basketball)
• Until eSports include motion-based video games
(MBVGs) that track gross motor physical body
movements within the game, the general public may not
accept eSports as “real” sports
(Jenny et al., 2016)
eSport- Physicality
Motion-based Video Games
• MBVGs use motion-detection sensors and software to simulate physical movements
made by the user and displays them via an onscreen avatar, typically without the use
of a handheld controller (Jenny, Hushman, & Hushman, 2013)
• Example MBVG devices:
• XBox Kinect
• PlayStation 4 (PS4) with motion camera
• Nintendo Wii
• Currently, MBVGs are employed for entertainment or exercise, and not competitive
eSports.
eSport- Broad Following
• Sport must move beyond a local attraction or fad and must have a
broad following (Suits, 2007)
• Over 2.4 billion hours of eSports video was viewed steaming live in
2013 (Heaven, 2014a)
• In 2013, the LoL World Championship Final, which was hosted at the
Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA, touted an attendance of 11,000
• In 2014, MLG (2015) opened a 14,000-square foot eSport arena in
Columbus, Ohio (MLG.tv Columbus Arena)
• MLG studio in New York City
• 15,000 seat MLG stadium in Hengqin, China by 2017 – the world’s
first dedicated eSports stadium (Heaven, 2014a)
eSport – Institutional Stability
• Institutionalization refers to an activity having a long history in which:
1) Rules are Developed and Standardized
2) Learning of the Game becomes Formalized
3) Expertise Develops
4) Coaches, Trainers, Officials and Governing Bodies Emerge (Drewe, 2003; Suits, 2007; Tamburrini, 2000)
• eSports institutional stability and regulation are still unproven:
• Several competing Organizations developing regarding Championship Events &
Governing Bodies
• ESPN, X-Games, Major League Gaming (MLG), ESports League (ESL), UK eSports
Association, International eSports Federation, Korean Esports Association (KeSPA),
TBS, eSports Championship Series, The International, Heroes of the Dorm,
Collegiate Star League, NCAA/NAIA, Riot Games, National Collegiate Counter-Strike
League
• Who sets Rules – Game Developers, Players or Championship Hosts?
(Jenny, Manning, Keiper, & Orlich, 2016)
eSports in College- RMU
• Robert Morris University (Illinois) is a private (accredited) university which focuses on ‘handson’ and ‘career-focused’ education (Ruby, 2014)
• First U.S. institution of higher education to, “…recognize the value and legitimacy of
eSports…” (“Robert Morris Addition of eSports,” 2014).
• First U.S. college/university to add a League of Legends (LoL) Varsity eSports team as part of
its official athletics program
• Believes the eSports scholarships serve as a way to reach an underserved gaming population
(“Gamers get scholarships,” 2014; Keilman, 2014).
• RMU’s eSport teams consists of thirty-five students who are eligible to athletic scholarships
of up to 50% of tuition, room and board, which amounts to almost $19,000 per student (“201415 League of Legends Coaches,” 2014; Bradley, 2014; SBRnet, 2014)
RMU eSports Budget
• $19,000 – Annual eSports scholarship
• $100,000 – Amount RMU spent on
retrofitting a classroom into a eSports
hub
• $349 – Value of each 40 ergonomic
gaming chairs (sponsored)
RMU eSports Arena
RMU eSports Gear
• 5 RMU gaming coaches (1 head coach, 4 assistants)
• 37 ASUS gaming computer monitors
• Team is equipped with jerseys with sponsorship logos
Potential Implications of Adding eSports to
Intercollegiate Athletics
• Some Negative Implications:
• Sedentary nature of the eSports
• Start-up funding & maintenance costs
• Institutionalization/Regulation
• IT support (who manages additional IT demands)?
• Potential Positive Impacts to Athletic Departments:
• Revenue Generation
• Title IX Compliance
• Diversity
(Jenny, Manning, Keiper, & Orlich, 2016)
Equipment Needed
Minimum equipment needed for one eSports team
includes:
• 5 desktop Computers
– Monitors (Asus #1 brand, 165Hz refresh rate)
•
•
•
•
5 keyboards (not wireless)
5 computer mice (not wireless)
Cable internet (preferably not Wi-Fi)
Turtle Beach headphones (optional)
Technology Required
• Ping time: < 200 milliseconds
• Frame time needs to be >30
(Below 30, graphics are not able to
keep up with the game)
• Cable Internet speed of 1 Mbps or higher
• Wireless mice, wireless keyboards and WiFi are
not recommend because it creates delay and lag
time.
eSport Arena’s
• Arenas are filled with fans to watch eSport
members battle against each other
• Arenas were created to increase validity for
eSport players
• All equipment is standard for every
member to decrease lag and misplay
References
Crawford, G. & Gosling, V. K. (2009). More than a game: Sports-themed video games and player narratives. Sociology of Sport
Journal, 26, 50-66.
Drewe, S. (2003). Why sport? Toronto: Thompson.
Entertainment Software Association (2014). Essential facts about the computer and video game industry: 2014 sales, demographic,
and usage data. Retrieved from http://www.theesa.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ESA_EF_2014.pdf
Gregory, S. (2015). Virtual world, varsity sport: The newest route to college is through video game. Time.
Guttmann, A. (1978). From ritual to record: The nature of modern sports. New York: Columbia University Press.
Heaven, D. (2014a, August 13). Esport by numbers. New Scientist. Retrieved from
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22329824.300-esports-by-numbers.html#.VT6QQiFVhBc
Heaven, D. (2014b, August 13). Esports: Pro video gaming explodes with big prize pots. New Scientist. Retrieved from
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22329823.900-esports-pro-video-gaming-explodes-with-big-prizepots.html#.VR9OzeEyRxI
Jenny, S., Hushman, G., & Hushman, C. (2013). Pre-service teachers’ perceptions of motion-based video gaming in physical education.
International Journal of Technology in Teaching and Learning, 9(1), 96-111
Jenny, S., Manning, R. D., Keiper, M. C., & Olrich, T. W. (2016). Virtual(ly) athletes: Where eSports fit within the definition of
"sport". Quest. DOI:10.1080/00336297.2016.1144517.
INFOGRAPHIC: The 50 million-strong eSports market breaks into the mainstream - SuperData Research. (2013, October 8). Retrieved
from http://www.superdataresearch.com/blog/esports-infographic/
LLamas, S., & Barberie, S. (2014, April 1). ESports Brief by SuperData Research. Retrieved from
http://www.slideshare.net/StephanieLlamas/esports-brief-by-superdata-research
Moth, J. (2014, November 11). Top 5 most popular eSports games right now. Retrieved from
http://www.loadthegame.com/2014/11/11/top-5-popular-esports-games-right-now/
2014-15 League of Legends coaches (2014a). Retrieved from http://www.rmueagles.com/coach/0/147.php
RMU’s addition of eSports has caught the attention of the gaming and media worlds. (2014b, June 20). Retrieved from
http://www.rmueagles.com/article/923.php
References Continued
Snider, M. (2013, July 11). ‘League of Legends’ makes big league moves. USA Today. Retrieved from
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/gaming/2013/07/11/league-of-legends-at-staples-center/2504935/
Tassi, P. (2012, October 18). Starcraft 2 Struggles as League of Legends Rises. Retrieved from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2012/10/18/starcraft-2-struggles-as-league-of-legends-rises/
Tassi, P. (2013, August 24). League of Legends Finals Sells Out LA's Staples Center In An Hour. Retrieved from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2013/08/24/league-of-legends-finals-sells-out-las-staples-center-in-an-hour/
Tassi, P. (2014a, July 18). Why eSports Doesn't Need ESPN. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2014/07/18/whyesports-doesnt-need-espn/
Tassi, P. (2014b, September 7). ESPN boss declares eSports 'Not A Sport.' Retrieved from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2014/09/07/espn-boss-declares-esports-not-a-sport/
Tassi, P. (2014b, September 7). ESPN boss declares eSports 'Not A Sport.' Retrieved from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2014/09/07/espn-boss-declares-esports-not-a-sport/
Tassi, P. (2015, January 8). Second US college now offering ‘League of Legends’ scholarship. Retrieved from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2015/01/08/second-us-college-now-offering-league-of-legends-scholarship/
Valve (2014, July 17). International DotA 2 Championships on ESPN Networks. Retrieved from
http://store.steampowered.com/news/13929/
Wingfield, N. (2014a, August 25). What’s Twitch? Gamers know, and Amazon Is spending $1 Billion on it. New York Times. Retrieved
from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/26/technology/amazon-nears-a-deal-for-twitch.html
Wingfield, N. (2014b, August 30). In eSports, video gamers draw real crowds and big money. New York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/31/technology/esports-explosion-brings-opportunity-riches-for-video-gamers.html
Wingfield, N. (2014c, December 8). E-Sports at college, with stars and scholarships. New York Times Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/09/technology/esports-collegesbreeding-grounds-professional-gaming.html
Xue, H., Pu, P., Hawzen, M., & Newman, J. (2016, June 3). E-Sports management? Institutional logics, professional sports, emerging ESports field. 2016 North American Society for Sport Management Conference, Orlando, FL.
Questions?
• Dr. Seth Jenny – [email protected]